Mothers' Religious Commitment Protects Against Depression in Children

According to researchers at Columbia University1, children whose mothers are religiously committed are less likely to suffer from depression later in life.

In their study, 60 mothers and 151 children were followed over 10 years to determine if there was any relationship between a mother's religious commitment and resulting depression in her children. The study found that daughters, but not sons, of women who considered religion to be highly important were 60% less likely to have a major depressive disorder at the 10-year follow- up.

A second important factor that was linked with less depression was the degree to which the children embraced their mother's religion. When the mother and child were members of the same religious denomination at the follow-up, daughters were 736 less likely to suffer from a major depressive disorder while sons were 84% less likely.

Dr. David Larson, president of the National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR), stated "I have seen numerous studies linking religious commitment to lower rates of depression. This study is remarkable because it is the first one to show a link between a parent's religiosity and the child's risk for depression."

Another significant finding of the study was that highly religious mothers were less likely to be depressed themselves. Women for whom religion was highly important were 736 less likely to have major depression at the 10-year follow-up. This finding is consistent with other studies showing an inverse relationship between religiosity and depression.

Several possible explanations exist for these findings. According to the researchers, the highly religious mothers were also less likely to be divorced or exhibit poor social functioning -- both factors that could contribute to depression in children. Another potential explanation comes from a recent study at the Medical College of Virginia2 which found that religion can protect from depression by buffering people against stressful life events.

1Miller, L., et al. "Religiosity and Depression: Ten-year Follow-up of Depressed Mothers and Offspring." J. Am. Acad. Child Adolescent Psychiatry 1997; 36:10:1416-1425. 2Kendler, K.S., et al. "Religion, Psychopathology, and Substance Use and Abuse: A Multi-measure, Genetic-Epidemiologic Study." Am. J Psychiatry 1997; 154(3):322-329.